Due to my fear of locked gates at sundown, I planned to run from a TH other than Eldorado Canyon or Walker, which close at sunset.
Apparently I didn't really calculate the mileage in between all that closely. It turns out that simply the run up to Walker from Dowdy Draw is an 18-mile round trip, which left little time for the Walker Ranch Loop. I ran to the end of the Eldorado Canyon Trail where it meets the Walker Loop at the dirt road.
At the first bridge from Dowdy Draw lot there were crazy numbers of large trout in the creek, and people were mobbing it with fly rods trying to catch them. Something about being fish released from the reservoir.
I hit the mesa again at around 17 miles, and did the Spring Brook loop an extra time to push the miles over 20. I felt fairly strong considering the tough miles already completed, chugging uphill at a steady -- if not fast -- pace. Feeling some strength left at mile 18 is good.
Distance was 20.32 miles, time 5:07 (moving 4:02), elevation gain/loss 3,452 feet, avg. pace 15:07 (moving 11:56), and best pace 7:03.
At least now I know what it will take to do this run with the Walker Loop added on: about 7-8 hours and lots of water and energy.
I brought my water filter for the first time this year, and drank and filled my bottle from the creek along the forest road at the halfway point. I was able to fill once already at the Eldorado visitor center, so it turned out not to be necessary, but I'd always rather have too much water available than not enough.
